Butler Ends Regular Season At Saint Louis

ROAD CLOSING: Butler will be seeking a berth in the 2012 Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer Championship when it closes out its 2012 schedule at Saint Louis on Sunday, Nov. 4. The regular season finale at Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Mo., will start at 4 p.m. (ET). The Bulldogs (5-7-5, 3-4-1 A-10) enter this week's action in a four-way tie for sixth place in the A-10 race, and the top eight teams in the final standings advance to the conference tournament, Nov. 8-11, in Charlotte, N.C. Dayton, Duquesne and Rhode Island, the three teams tied with Butler, each have two matches this weekend, as does St. Bonaventure, currently one point back in the standings. Four teams (VCU, Saint Louis, Temple and Charlotte) have already clinched a berth in the conference tournament, with the remaining field to be determined this weekend. The Bulldogs will be facing Saint Louis (12-4-0, 6-2-0 A-10) for the first time since 1999 and for just the fifth time overall. Saint Louis leads the all-time series, 3-1.

The Bulldogs are 1-1 all-time at Saint Louis.

SPLIT DECISION: Butler split its final two home matches, defeating George Washington, 4-0, before dropping a 1-0 decision to nationally-ranked Charlotte. The Bulldogs jumped in front against George Washington on a goal by junior Jordan Burt just over 27 minutes into the contest. Senior Justin Sass made it 2-0 just before halftime, and the Bulldog tacked on two more goals in the final forty-five minutes. The four goals were Butler's second-highest output of the season. Scoring wasn't as prevalent two days later. Butler and No. 22 Charlotte battled to a scoreless deadlock for more than 75 minutes, before Jennings Rex cashed the game-winner for the 49ers at 77:59. It was Butler's fourth loss by a single goal this season.

NATIONAL COMPETITION: Charlotte was the sixth "Top 25" team faced by the Bulldogs this season, and only one of the six matches against nationally-ranked foes was decided by more than a single goal. The Bulldogs dropped a 2-0 decision at No. 11 Indiana, after narrow losses at No. 17 Xavier, 2-1, and to No. 21 VCU, 1-0. Butler tied No. 10 St. John's, 1-1, and No. 11 South Florida, 2-2. Saint Louis was ranked No. 20 a week ago, but the Billikens slipped to No. 26 this week.

FINISHING TOUCH: Freshman Jeff Adkins recorded Butler's final tally against George Washington, giving him goals in three consecutive matches for the Bulldogs. He also added an assist in the Butler win to boost his team-leading scoring total to 15 points. The first-year forward from Shelby Township, Mich., heads into the final weekend of regular season play with team-highs of five goals and five assists. He was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for his performance in Butler's road matches against Temple and Saint Joseph's a week earlier.

BULLDOG BITS: Butler recorded its fifth shutout of the season in the win over George Washington. The Bulldogs had shutouts in three of their final five matches in the Butler Bowl, with the other two contests being 1-0 setbacks to nationally-ranked opponents... Junior goalkeeper Jon Dawson had seven saves in Butler's weekend matches against George Washington and Charlotte, boosting his season total for saves to 80. The Butler goalkeeper currently ranks seventh on the Bulldogs' all-time single season list for saves. He ranks third in the Atlantic 10 and 16th in the NCAA Division I in total saves...Freshman Jeff Adkins is tied for 10th in the A-10 in assists (5).